


Ignoto

by Tommykaine



Category: Original Work
Genre: (Non-Descriptive), Apocalypse, Challenge Response, European setting, Gen, Introspection, LGBTQ Character, POV Alternating, Past Sexual Assault, copying and reposting this work elsewhere without my permission is strictly forbidden!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 03:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17779439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tommykaine/pseuds/Tommykaine
Summary: As she looked out of the window, gazing upon the seemingly endless line of trees that seemed to merge into one single stripe of thick foliage, Andy could not help but think of what could have been if she had not waited until the last minute to make her plans.If she had not been left with the choice of carpooling her way back or taking a bus, she would not have been stuck in that situation.If only she had thought in advance and gotten on a train like she had meant to, or even a plane like her sister suggested before all the discounted seats were booked, maybe she would not have been...She gulped.Maybe I would not have been alive.----The story of a group of strangers who find themselves trapped together in the midst of an unknown calamity.When the entire world seems to have left them behind, the only thing left is to go forward and hope for the better.





	Ignoto

**Author's Note:**

> An important note for the premise of this story, is that this is based on a ride sharing system that is somewhat popular in some parts of Europe as a cheap method of transit across mid and long distances, in which you look in specialized websites for people offering a ride towards the destination you are trying to reach, and in exchange you pay a part of the cost of that travel and they don't have to spend a long time driving alone.
> 
> The people in this story are all strangers who took advantage of such an offer to reach their destination.
> 
>  
> 
> This story was written as a challenge response to the 9th edition of the COW-T, by LandeDiFandom, using the prompt "Road Trip".

 

As she looked out of the window, gazing upon the seemingly endless line of trees that seemed to merge into one single stripe of thick foliage, Andy could not help but think of what could have been if she had not waited until the last minute to make her plans.

If she had not been left with the choice of carpooling her way back or taking a bus, she would not have been stuck in that situation.

If only she had thought in advance and gotten on a train like she had meant to, or even a plane like her sister suggested before all the discounted seats were booked, maybe she would not have been...

She gulped.

_Maybe I would not have been alive._

 

 

 

It had been hours since it first started, but Gregory could have sworn he'd been there for days. The air was thick and warm, and even if he'd loosened up his tie he still felt like he would suffocate in there.

If only he could have stepped outside for a moment...

He almost wanted to laugh. They would have lynched him as soon as he tried.

_How can they be so calm?_

He glanced aside to the redhead on his left, a twenty-something year old with a bored expression on her face, which was all-but glued to the window as if she was intently scrutinizing the landscape around them. Her eyes however were blank like those of his students during the last lesson of the day.

_Ah, youth._

The brunette that sat in-between them was also fully silent, curled up on her seat like a cat while holding her cell phone in both hands and scrolling through something written entirely in Chinese or some other ideogram-based language. She had barely said a word through the entire travel and Gregory was not entirely sure she could even speak English. She had short jet black hair and a petite frame, and could have been anything between 14 and 30 for all he knew.

_What was her name again? Yuni? Yuri?_

  
  


Jung-Hee opened her chats for what felt like the hundredth time already, scrolling down the list with a resigned expression. The lack of notifications already let her know she would not find any new messages, but she could not help but hope that maybe her phone was acting up and not showing them or something like that.

Of course, that was not the case.

_I knew this was a bad idea._

Sure, they didn't know what had happened to everyone else but whatever it was, she wasn't sure it could be worse than being stuck with a bunch of strangers. Especially that nosy old guy who kept peeking at her phone. How rude!

_Joke's on you pal, I'm not opening my English chats in here._

At least he was the only guy in there, though of course she had to be squeezed in-between him and another girl who looked as annoyed as her. She already knew she would get along with her the most; after all she was the only one who hadn't tried to fill the initial silence with inane questions or meaningless small talk. Though the German folk music that the driver had put on was not really much of an improvement.

She never would have gotten a ride with a bunch of strangers if she'd been back home, but it was so cheap and one of her friends swore it was totally safe and much less unpleasant than one of those cramped bus that travelled across countries.

“ _Trust me, you don't even want to know the state of those toilets. Ugh!”_

Well at least that would have been better than no toilet. Jung-Hee could only be glad that whole mess didn't happen before their toilet break, but sooner or later they would have to stop again...

Wouldn't they?

  
  


As the sky began to change colour, Heike couldn't help but feel tense at the thought of driving at night. Maybe they should have stopped but-

_No._

They didn't know what caused it. They didn't even know what happened for sure, and maybe that was the worst part.

Glancing to the side, Heike could see that Adèle was still chewing on her nails and on the sides of her fingertips. She would have had such beautiful hands if her fingers weren't mangled from what looked like months if not years of compulsive chewing.

Not that she could entirely blame her, given the way they found out...

She'd been on her phone with her partner – her husband or boyfriend, Heike wasn't sure but it had to be pretty serious considering her pregnant belly – since they got back from their first toilet break, and then all of a sudden he just went silent in mid-sentence. According to Adèle, it was as if a TV had suddenly been muted. He didn't seem shocked, he didn't interrupt himself, it was just... one moment he was there, the next he wasn't.

At first they didn't think too much of it. Adèle interrupted the call and attempted to call him again, but to no avail. No matter how many times she tried, he would not pick up.

Heike felt bad when she saw her panic, but there was really nothing she could do besides suggesting she call an ambulance or the police. Their first guess was that he must have fainted, if the phone was not having any problems, but whatever problem that might have been would have been on the man's end since she tried to let the other woman borrow her phone with the same exact result.

At that point Adèle was still the only one panicking, and then she tried to call the police.

And an ambulance.

And any other number she could think of.

Nobody answered.

Then Heike noticed something. It wasn't rare for her not to encounter that many cars along that road; it was why she picked it instead of the theoretically quicker but much more crowded alternative. But since that call abruptly ended, there had been no other car in sight.

Nor any person, or animal, not even road kill.

It was as if everyone outside was... gone. Just gone. Without leaving so much of a trace.

Heike felt a cold shiver run down her spine by merely thinking about it.

Most radio stations were also gone; at least the ones broadcasting live. She kept changing them to try and find any sign of life up until the man behind Adèle had snapped at her to stop and settle on a damn channel already. However, the thought of listening to what was basically a ghost station unnerved her too much so instead she put on the only CD she had with her. A gift from her previous ex-girlfriend, and frankly more than enough reason why the “ex” prefix was there. Still, she couldn't afford to be picky and schlager was better than ghost music.

The sky kept getting darker.

Sooner or later they'd find someone else. They couldn't be the only ones left. Why them of all people?

The only question was whether they'd make it that far before they ran out of gas.

She glanced at the fuel gauge, cursing herself for not refilling the day before. Had she known something like that would happen, she would have...

Her lips curved into a bitter grin.

_Like hell._ She would have gone back to Jeanine. Spent however much was left with her instead of getting stuck driving endlessly in the vain hope they would reach someone, somewhere.

She could only hope it wouldn't be all for nothing but she really didn't know. Yet, she had to be strong. If she crumbled and let the stress and panic take over, then everyone else would lose it for sure. She might not have known those people but that didn't matter. For the time being, they could only count on each other.

She glanced at the rear-view mirror, and then again at Adèle and her baby bump. She gritted her teeth.

_I have to be strong._

If not for herself, then for them. All six of them.

 

 

Andy had enough of staring outside and mulling on her bad life decisions, starting from the one to accept her sister's invitation to her wedding.

_The fucking nerve._

Still, wasn't like she could just say no to _her own sister_. Not without having to explain why.

And she... she couldn't. Every time she thought of doing that her whole body froze and she felt like throwing up. No, no, she could not- but she couldn't just let her do it.

_If she knew..._

But that was the thing. What if it didn't change anything? What if she already knew, but she didn't care?

Maybe that was what made her push the matter aside until the last moment. Or maybe it was the thought of having to see him again. Of feeling like everyone was trying to play some sort of cruel prank on her except the punch line never came.

The real kicker was, he didn't even flinch. Maybe he didn't even remember her. That was how little it had mattered to him. Maybe he was too drunk, or too high, or maybe she was just that forgettable.

But the thought of him doing the same to her sister... even if he cleaned up his act and looked like the most harmless guy in the world, but those hands... Andy knew what those hands could do. The same hands that wrapped around her throat until she almost passed out. The same hands that pulled down her panties while she tried to say no. Sometimes, she could still feel them on her.

She had almost screamed when he touched her shoulder. Yet she didn't have the courage to tell her sister why she stormed out of her house and walked away without a word. She only apologized on her phone and made up some excuse about suddenly remembering she had to be somewhere else.

She'd avoided visiting her again up until then, thinking she would just wait for her to dump him, for him to reveal himself as the bastard he was and promptly get kicked out of her life.

Never would she have thought they'd stay together for long enough to decide to get married.

If only she had said something back then... but she had been too scared. Scared of what the others could say. Scared that he was right and no one would believe anything a “slut like her” might say.

Now it was too late. But still... still, she couldn't let him get away with it. When she thought of her sister going through the same thing she did, she knew she had to try. And if she didn't listen, or if she wouldn't believe her... well.

She thought of the switchblade hidden in her backpack.

Hopefully they would make it to their destination. And if that bastard hadn't disappeared with the others, well, he would soon wish that he did.

 

 

Gregory didn't know how the others could stand it. He felt like he would go insane if they didn't stop or at least opened one of the windows to let some air in, but that damn Asian brat next to him noticed him trying to open the window and warned the driver, who immediately hit the brakes so suddenly that he hit his face against the front seat and the poor pregnant woman that was on it shrieked in terror.

“You goddamn idiot! We don't fucking know what's out there! It could very well get inside here too for all we know!” the woman shouted, her pale face turning red in anger.

The other women also glared at him as he reluctantly apologized, thinking to himself that if he'd be stuck there breathing that same humid air for much longer, whatever was outside there might be the last of their problems.

_Deep breaths, Gregory, deep breaths. You're gonna get through this._

He didn't know how much he could handle it. He'd never been good with stress.

He had his pills, but...

He sighed.

_I've got to. I've got to keep myself sane somehow._

To think he used to believe teaching was stressful.

_Ain't that the real kicker._

 

 

 

Jung-Hee didn't like the fact that she had to sit next to that guy for the rest of the travel. He had looked like he wanted to strangle her when she snitched on him, and it wasn't like she didn't want to get out too but that woman was right. They didn't know what could happen if whatever was outside had a way to get in, and as much as she would have wanted to kick him out she didn't want to die either.

It had been hours since her chats showed any sign of life, even if some of the people in them still were listed as being online. Jung-Hee didn't know what happened to them but she was starting to be really scared. What if she never heard from any of her friends or family members again? What if they were gone forever? Whatever happened to them could happen to her too if that guy or anyone else in there did something stupid.

Not to mention that everything was pitch black around them except for the street lights and the ones from the car. If anything was out there waiting for them to step outside or let it in, they wouldn't even be able to see it.

It was like something out of a horror movie. A very uneventful, slow-paced horror movie. And while she did not like horror movies she had seen enough of them to know that the danger did not only come from whatever threat was waiting for them outside.

She eyed the nervous-looking man with suspicion as he retrieved a blister from his bag and swallowed one of the pills. For now it seemed like he was intending to behave, but how long would it last?

She also was not too keen on having to be trapped there with the woman in the front. She'd been obnoxiously chatty and loud for most of the travel, and their driver had kept on engaging in conversation with her from time to time, but now she was rocking back and forth and only occasionally mumbling something to herself, ignoring anything that the older woman said.

Jung-Hee had a very bad feeling about her. If she had to make a guess on who would be the first to flip out, well that woman was making that annoying guy look calm in comparison.

_At least the windows are locked now._

Still, Jung-Hee couldn't help but feel anxious about her.

She didn't know where that old lady was planning to go, but wherever that was, well, she better get them there fast.

  
  


“How far along are you?”

Heike kept her tone friendly and cheerful, despite the fact that Adèle kept ignoring her attempts to get her to talk. She was clearly in shock, and Heike didn't know how to make her snap out of it.

“It's gotta be at least six months, right?” she asked, recalling the time one of her friends had been pregnant. She had been both fascinated and disturbed by the whole thing, and it got her wondering if she would ever want such a thing for herself, or how it would feel to hold her girlfriend and feel a small life growing inside of her.

Still, the fact that it couldn't be done without a man soured it for her. It wasn't like she hated men, but she didn't want them to have anything to do with what she did in the privacy of her bedroom. Especially if her girlfriend was involved.

_Well, ex-girlfriend now._

If only Jeanine had been with her, maybe she would have known what to do. Heike was sociable enough by herself but when it came to comforting people she never quite knew how to act, it always felt awkward and uncomfortable.

“I think Jeanine wanted a kid too. She never quite told me, but...”

She slowed down the car and squinted. Did she-?

She held her breath as she approached the large-shaped thing just outside the tunnel. The nearest street lamp was not working so she had to wait until her headlights hit it to realize she had been right.

“Another car,” she whispered. “Fucking finally.”

“There's more people out there?,” the man – Gregory, if she wasn't misremembering – asked, the relief clearly audible in his voice.

“Don't get your hopes up.” The girl next to him sounded quite sceptical, and Heike hated the fact that she agreed with the sentiment but for good reason. Now that she was closer she could see that there was no movement inside. Moreover, two of the doors were open. Whoever had been inside the vehicle was probably long gone, either because they left by foot or...

_Or whatever happened to everyone else also happened to them._

  
  


Andy moved in closer to the front, trying to peek from the driver's side window.

“There's nobody there.”

_Of course._

“Maybe they're travelling by foot,” the old woman said in what was probably supposed to be a comforting tone, but she didn't sound too convinced. “We might catch up with them if we keep moving forward.”

Andy watched as they turned to drive past the abandoned car, the shadows swallowing it whole as soon as the front lights shifted direction.

“How long until we get to Hannover?”

“Not too long by now,” was the response. “Especially if we don't stop overnight. With this cold, I would not trust the car to start again if we did.”

Andy let out a small humming sound. “God I could kill for a smoke.”

“No smoking in my car.”

She smiled and sighed. “Yeah, I figured.”

She glanced at the pregnant woman that was still sitting in silence. “Fair enough. It would not be good for the baby.”

Then again, she wasn't sure of how much of a difference that could make. If they were the only ones left, how was she supposed to give birth in the first place? She had no idea of how far along she was, hopefully not far enough for that to be an immediate concern. Then again who would get on such a long drive with a bunch of strangers in her condition?

_Guess she had her reasons._

She couldn't exactly judge her. Maybe she had no one she trusted. Maybe her husband was some good-for-nothing twat who couldn't be bothered to lift a finger to help. If she even had a husband in the first place.

She thought back to Emma and grimaced.

_Maybe it's best if she doesn't._

  
  


When Gregory woke up, the first lights of dawn were illuminating the empty streets of a mostly-unfamiliar city.

“What are- what?”

He squinted and put his glasses back on, cursing the lingering slugginess caused by the meds. But that wasn't the reason for his confusion.

“Where are we? Shouldn't we be in-”

“Calm down old man, it's a detour,” the bored voice of that Yuni-something girl cut him off.

“A detour? What for?”

“I-I just wanted to check... to check something.” The older woman said, her German accent sounding thicker when her voice broke.

Gregory gulped loudly. “There's no one around.”

“Great spirit of observation.”

That kid was starting to get on his nerves. Whatever happened to respecting your elders?

_And they say Asian women are more polite..._

“If it's happened here too....”

He couldn't even finish his sentence. He didn't want to voice his worries, but even so, when he looked up and saw that woman's green eyes reflected on the rear-view mirror, he could tell that she already knew what he wanted to say.

“We'll keep going,” she said, her voice terse and firm.

He then noticed the tears in the corner of her eyes and quickly looked away. He felt kind of dirty for having seen that, like he'd caught himself peeking at her in a private moment. She was trying to hold herself together, but it was clear that her patience was wearing thin. Not to mention she had to be exhausted by then. How long had she even been driving? Speaking of which-

“It would be out of the question to, uhm, make a quick stop, right?”

The tiny girl next to him sighed and tossed a small plastic bottle towards him. He caught it before it landed straight on his groin and looked at it in confusion. His first thought was that it was half-filled with tea, but then it hit him.

“Don't worry, we won't look,” she said, her peach-coloured lips curved into a sardonic grimace.

He swallowed hard, perfectly aware of the fact that he was stuck there with a group of women and all of them would be able to hear and _smell_ everything.

_Goddammit._

He barely had the time to undo his pants and pull down his underwear before he heard a loud chuckle right next to him.

“I thought European men were supposed to be big.”

He almost spilled everything on the car mat.

“Shut the fuck up,” he growled.

_Damn brat._

  
  


 

The blinking light red on Jung-Hee's phone told her that it wasn't fully charged when she detached the usb cable and put the power bank away, but she had already used up over half of it. They might need to keep the rest for later.

_Like we can even call up anyone._

“Thanks.”

“You're welcome,” the girl next to her replied. Andy, or something. She was about to ask when the old woman who was driving them around butted in.

“Your German is very good.”

Jung-Hee rolled her eyes.

“I've studied German for five years,” she said. “And my grandmother was German.”

“Five years? How old are you?”

“Twenty-three.”

“No way!.”

Jung-Hee was hoping she would be spared from another session of idle chatting, but it seemed that old woman decided that Mrs Catalepsy didn't make for great company.

  
  


“Maybe we are being punished.”

Adèle's voice was so low that Heike almost didn't hear her, and at first she wasn't sure she hadn't imagined it.

“We're gonna get through this somehow,” she said, hoping her tone sounded firm enough to the other's ears. Firmer than it sounded to her own at least. “We can't be... we can't be the only ones out here. We saw it before. Someone else was there, we just happened to miss them”

_Or something happened to them when they left._

“It's all my fault,” Adèle whispered again, staring in front of her with a resigned expression. Heike wasn't even sure she was talking to her or could hear her at all.

“How could it be your fault?” She had to try to make her reason. The fact that she wasn't acting like a zombie anymore had to be some kind of improvement at least, so maybe she could get through to her now. “I'm sure... I'm sure your husband is waiting for you, and is very worried for you too. First things first we're going to get to our destination, and then we can try to see what happened to him. Alright?”

Her words were meant to reassure the other, but it seemed like they had the opposite effect as the younger woman suddenly started to cry.

“That's not- my husband is... my husband is in France,” she said in-between sobs. “He left me when he found out... I was supposed to go stay with my father in Hannover until the baby came, b-but...”

The young woman behind Heike scoffed.

“What a scumbag.”

Heike was inclined to agree, her brows furrowing as Adèle's sobs got louder. “What sort of asshole could abandon the mother of his child?”

A half-choked sound broke the litany of sobs, and soon enough the woman's entire body shook as they turned into a hysterical laughter.

“I-it's not his!,” she cried out, her beautiful features contorted in a grotesque expression. “I-it was o-only one time b-but... t-that's what you get, h-huh?”

Heike gulped and her grasp on her steering wheel tightened. She would have wanted to say something to calm her down but instead she was gritting her teeth.

_'Only' one time. As if that somehow makes it better._

“I couldn't... I didn't want to tell him b-but... h-he was so happy about the baby a-and... I-I don't know... I don't know w-what I was thinking!.” The woman grasped her hair and shook her head, alternating between laughing and crying. “I-I fucked everything up!.”

“Then let's say it's a lesson for the next time,” Heike tersely said. She would have said more, but what would be the use of that?

_It's not like she can fix the past. It won't make things better even if she keeps tormenting herself._

Adèle smiled grimly. “There won't be a next time. Not for any of us.”

Heike wished she could have dismissed her words as unnecessary pessimism but...

_This is the end, isn't it?_

No, she couldn't give up like that. And neither could Adèle.

“We don't know that yet,” she said. “You're still alive, aren't you? And your baby needs a mother.”

“Not one like me, it doesn't.”

“That's not- there's no reason to say that. What you've done... it's got nothing to do with being a bad or good mother.”

_Just a shit partner._

“We've all been abandoned. I just know it,” Adèle continued, her voice growing firmer. Her eyes had a strange light in them, despite the resignment in her voice her expression showed nothing but determination. “An adulterer and a lesbian... I don't suppose those people are innocent either. All of us... we've all been abandoned for our sins.”

Once again, Heike had to hold back a nasty response.

“And what would the baby in your belly have done to deserve any of this?,” she hissed.

Adèle smiled again and shrugged.

“Children always pay for the sins of their parents.”

 

 

Andy wasn't sure of how long they'd been going. All the streets were starting to look the same to her, and after the tense argument between the two women in the front the silence had fallen between them like a heavy weight.

No one had dared to say a word for what felt like hours.

The girl next to her was still clinging to her phone like her life depended on it. Her initial aggressive façade was starting to wear down and Andy was sure that should have been a relief, but honestly she couldn't manage to find any sort of redeeming note in that whole situation.

_I guess at least I won't have to face that bastard again._

It was weird. She'd been so determined to put an end to that story, and she guessed in a way she got her wish. She doubted she would ever have to worry about him or what he might do to her sister.

_Emma..._

She guessed she should have felt devastated to think that she'd probably never see her again, but she wasn't.

_If she really is... well, she never had to know the truth, and he... he'll never get to hurt her like this. I guess..._

Rather than a punishment, it almost felt like a blessing.

Strange how that worked.

Maybe she was going insane. Anyone would after being stuck in the same place for that long, even if she didn't even know how long that whole ordeal had been. It could have been hours, it probably had been a day already, but while it felt like it had lasted forever it also seemed like it was only a moment ago that she took place inside the already-cramped car and awkwardly introduced herself to a group of people who would not occupy even a moment in her future memories.

Her future memories... she couldn't really imagine what that could entail.

Maybe she should have learned everyone's name. They'd been with her till the end, after all. But she just couldn't bring herself to care.

_I guess that makes me a bad person._

The sky outside was so empty. Not even a drop of rain, nor a gush of wind shaking the foliage of the trees.

_Have we really been abandoned?_

She never even believed in God, and even if she did, what sort of God would decide to punish her rather than him?

_A shit God, that's for sure._

 

 

In any another occasion, Gregory would have found the long silence maddening, but at the moment it gave him a chance to collect his thoughts.

Maybe the fact that his jacket and tie both lied abandoned in the trunk also helped. If the world was ending, there was no use in looking presentable anyway.

_It's not the way I would have imagined it to go, that is for sure._

None of the authors he read would have described it that way. Where was the grandiosity, the dreadful crescendo, the foreshadowing of the prophets uselessly warning about the impending doom? The sky opening up to rain fire on humanity, or the collapse brought upon by the hubris of mankind? The tribes coming together united by their common destiny, or raging war driven by a mad panic?

Honestly he was...kind of disappointed? He had expected more but it just... it just kind of happened, and that was it.

_It would not make for a compelling narrative, that is for sure._

As he mused on that, he looked to the side and was shocked to see tears on that young girl's face. Somehow it made her look even smaller. It was hard to imagine that she was old enough to be one of her students.

He briefly wondered what sort of student she had been. Probably one of those that gave endless grief to her teachers and had no care nor respect for any authority. He'd dealt with a few of those before, and it had always left him with a lot of frustration and a growing number of white hair.

But right now, her cocky attitude seemed to be gone and he couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly.

“It's gonna be alright.”

She jolted at his touch and he half-expected her to push him off, but instead she gulped loudly and looked at him, her dark chestnut eyes filled with fear.

“What if that woman is right?” she whispered, then quickly looked away.

Gregory felt a pang of anxiety at the thought, but his smile didn't waver.

“People say a lot of things they don't mean when they're scared,” he said in his most reassuring tone.

“Maybe there's really nobody else left out there.” Her tone sounded remarkably calm, but he could feel her shaking.

“I'm gonna be there with you no matter what happens. You won't have to be alone.”

The girl sniffled and attempted to glare at him, but there was no real anger in her eyes.

“I don't need an old man's company.”

He shrugged. “Then think of it as a favour to an elder.”

She didn't respond but her expression softened, her gaze moving down to her phone as she opened some kind of idle game to play with. Gregory wasn't sure if she was trying to close herself off again, but he felt he should at least attempt to distract her from her worries.

“What are you studying?”

She didn't answer at first, and he was about to give up before she shrugged and spoke quietly.

“Informatics,” she said, her fingers still moving fast on the screen. She hesitated a bit before continuing. “I wanted to specialize in robotics.”

_Definitely the ambitious type, all right._

“I'm a literature teacher. British and American literature, mostly.”

She glanced at him for a second, raising her eyebrow. “That sounds boring.”

By this point her words didn't really affect him all that much, besides it sounded more like she was trying to play tough.

“Did you know that the word robotics comes from science fiction?” he asked her. “Good old Asimov first used the term in his stories. So in a way, your field also comes from literature.”

He had hoped to impress her a little, so when she looked at him with a small grin he was confused but hopeful.

“Fucking nerd.”

_...guess not._

“I'm not the one studying _computers_.”

He knew it was a childish retort, but he couldn't help but feel a bit peeved. So much for trying to be nice!

The girl chuckled and turned back to her phone.

“Fair enough, old man.”

“My name's Gregory.”

“Case in point. Even your name is old fashioned.”

He would have wanted to retort but he wasn't even sure of what her name actually was. So he only risked to sound even more foolish.

“You don't even remember what my name is do you?”

_Fuck._

“Well, half of my own teachers don't even remember that anyway,” she said, shrugging again. “I'm Jung-Hee.”

_Ah, that was it._

“Jung-Hee... what does it mean?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Well what does _'Gregory'_ mean?”

“It comes from the Latin Gregorius, meaning-”

“Right, I forgot I was talking to a nerd. Fine, if you _must_ know, it means 'gentle beauty' or something.” She gave him a warning glare before he could even comment. “Don't laugh..”

“You _could_ afford to be gentler.”

“Don't push your luck. That's as close as you're getting.”

He couldn't even really be mad. She was kind of growing on him.

“I'm not sure you would like Asimov. Maybe something more like Matheson,” he said after a while, though he was almost more thinking out loud than actually talking to her. “Not a lot of robots in his works, though. And, well, not like we can stop at a library, so....”

Jung-Hee chuckled.

“This is the future, Greg. The internet has all the books one might want, and even more.”

  
  


Jung-Hee was assorted in her reading when an unfamiliar beeping noise caught her off-guard.

“What's that?,” she asked, trying to hide the anxiety in her voice.

“We're running out of gas,” the old woman replied. “We're almost there anyway.” She sounded tense, which didn't help Jung-Hee feel better.

“What if there's no one there too?”

“We'll think about it when we get there,” was the sharp reply. “There's no use in worrying about it now.”

“Yeah right, it's not like it's the end of the world or anything, right?,” Jung-Hee couldn't help but comment, her words dripping with sarcasm.

“Shut the fuck up, will you?,” the woman growled.

“Ladies, please there's no need to be so hostile,” Greg tried to intervene, and the old woman shot him a deadly glare.

“If we wanted your contribution we would have asked, thank you, _mister_ ,” she snapped at him. “So keep that patronizing shit to yourself.”

_Jeez. Talk about overreacting._

“Wow, chill the fuck out sis. I was only joking.”

“It wasn't funny.”

_Well if your sense of humour's as dried up as your pussy,_ she barely held back from replying. That old bitch was definitely going unhinged, and while normally that would not be any of her concerns it didn't seem too bright to piss off the one person controlling the wheel.

“Maybe you should rest,” the other girl said after a few minutes, sounding almost apologetic. Probably worried she would explode on her too.

“I'll rest once we're there. If we stop the car it might not restart,” the old woman insisted. She was clearly frustrated but didn't sound quite as pissed off at least. “And if we don't find nobody there, we'll just... we'll just keep going until we can.”

Deciding she had enough of their talking, Jung-Hee took a pair of earphones out of her bag and attached them to her phone so that she could go back to reading in peace.

_This Matheson guy isn't half bad after all. Thanks, nerd._

  
  


Heike kept her eyes glued to the road, waiting for the right turn. The lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her, made worse by the fact that she hadn't been able to take a break except for peeing. She'd been lucky to have sandwiches with her so she could at least have a bite and not be starving too, and one of the girls had shared some snacks with everyone, but by then the only thing she could think of was how much she wanted to collapse on a bed, or a sofa, or hell even the damn seat she was driving in.

_Almost there... we're almost there, please..._

She didn't know what she was even hoping for at that point. Nowhere they'd been so far had showed any signs of life whatsoever. Why would that place be any different?

_We've got to try. There's got to be something we can do. Besides, where else should we go?_

It just felt so pointless. She was so close to giving up, but there was still a stubborn part in her that told them she couldn't. She couldn't just abandon hope. Abandon everyone there.

_I shouldn't have abandoned her._

She knew she'd been right but... if only she could have listened to her, if she could have given her another chance, maybe things could have worked out so far. Maybe they could have had some time before... before it was too late.

_If I had known..._

Now it was too late.

She was still assorted in her thoughts when the man's voice interrupted them.

“Hey isn't that-”

“Yes,” she confirmed, thanking whatever deity had allowed the car to not give up on her so far. She turned in the direction of the sign, speeding up a bit in her enthusiasm.

_This is it._

  
  


  
  


Hannover had not changed much since Andy's last visit.

Well, except for the dead silenced that reigned over everything, at least.

And the fact that there was not a soul in sight.

Nobody said a word. There was no need to, anyway.

Andy figured she should have felt disappointed. Maybe even betrayed in some way. Their last hope had just been snatched away from them, after all.

_I knew how this would end, after all._

Even before it all started, even before she set foot on that car, she knew that one way or another her life would be over once she decided to leave.

Whether because she destroyed her sister's happiness, or because she was locked up for killing the monster who ruined her life, or because the world had ended... did it really matter, after all?

 

 

They managed to reach the front of the town hall before the engine gave its last signs of life. That was supposed to be where they all said goodbye to each other.

Gregory looked up at the imposing, marvellous building with a certain awe.

_There are worst places to say goodbye to the world, I guess._

He always liked that about Germany. The architecture was just beautiful. It was not the first thing that came to mind, but a man could not live on beer alone. Especially not a man of culture.

_Still, I kinda wish it could have been Glasgow_

It was good to visit home while he still could. He liked Germany just fine, and his own country had its fair share of issues, but... well, he was still a Scotsman, dammit. Even had a kilt stashed somewhere, though he wasn't sure he'd ever worn it. Maybe while he was drunk.

_That would have been one way to go. Drunk off my arse_ _**and** _ _showing my arse to the world before I got booted off of it._

  
  


While most of the others slept, Jung-Hee decided to open her chats one last time before her phone died on her, the tiniest rush of hope still possessing her to make one last attempt to contact her friends, to see if anyone was still out there.

The power bank that the other girl had lent to her was long gone.

Not that it mattered at that point.

With trembling hands, she wrote the same message in all of her chats, then turned off the screen and tossed her phone back in her bag.

She felt a hand on her shoulder again, but this time she didn't stiffen.

_I can't let that nerd see me cry again._

“This is it, huh.”

“We don't know.”

“I do,” she insisted.

“It'll be alright.”

His tone sounded honest enough, but she knew he was faking it. Still, there was a part of her that wanted to believe it.

“Thanks for the rec before, Greg.”

“The 'rec'?”

“Dude, the recommendation. Maybe I should go back to calling you old man after all.”

Greg sighed. “Please don't.”

“Yeah, don't worry. So what do you think will happen, when...?”

“Hopefully nothing.”

“ 'Hopefully'. Not sure how much better that would be. If there's no one left besides us, that means I'll be stuck with you and no one else to talk to. Plus you're the only guy left. You'd have to like, repopulate the Earth or some shit.”

Greg snickered at that. “God no. I'm gay.”

She shrugged. “A hole is a hole.”

The shocked look on Greg's face was priceless, and totally worth it. His skin turned like three shades redder than before and he turned around so fast that the glasses almost flew off.

“I...! That...that wouldn't...”

“Oh, so you're a bottom. Should have figured.”

“I-I- how would... t-that's not something I'm going to discuss with someone like you!.”

Jung-Hee grinned.

“ _Definitely_ a bottom.”  
  


 

Heike didn't know how much time had passed before she woke up, but her back was killing her and her legs weren't doing much better.

_To think that back in the day I've slept like this so many times I've lost count... ah, I've really gotten old._

“Thanks for the blanket,” the woman next to her talked, for the first time after their previous exchange.

“Don't mention it.” She needed it more than her. Even if at that point, it probably didn't matter.

There was a long silence between them, and then the other let out a small choked sound.

“Y-you know I wish...I wish I could have gotten to see the baby,” Adèle said, before sniffling and pressing a hand against her mouth.

Heike couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the way she almost snapped before. It was clear that the poor woman was stressed to death, no wonder she had gone a bit loopy.

“Did you have a name in mind?”

Adèle shrugged, chewing on her thumb as she looked outside.

“M-my husband... he wanted to call her Charlotte.”

Hearing that, Heike couldn't hold back from scoffing.

“I didn't ask what _he_ wanted to call her, now did I?,” she said. “I'd say he lost that right the moment he decided to leave.”

Adèle smiled meekly. “Evelyn”

“That's a much nicer name.”

“I think so too.”

Heike heard some rustling from the back, which clued her in to the fact that the others had started to wake up as well.

_I guess it's time._

She unlocked the doors, the loud click echoing through the car like a shot.

“Anyone else fancy a walk?,” she asked, her voice breaking a little on the last words.

Adèle took her hand.

“We haven't been abandoned,” she said. “We all still have each other.”

“God, _please_ let me leave before you guys start snogging.” Jung-Hee shook the man next to her, who still looked half-asleep. “Come on, nerd, time to wake up.”

“I can't find my glasses,” the man gruffly complained, patting himself and his surroundings in search of them before sighing. “Oh well.”

The other girl didn't say anything, but she placed her hand on the handle, looking at Heike as if awaiting for her approval.

As for her, well, she tried to speak, but found that she could not find the courage.

So instead she took a deep breath and squeezed Adèle's hand tighter.

_It's time._

And then, she just nodded.

  
  


 


End file.
